Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Maccabi Petah Tikva


fullname = Maccabi Petah Tikva Football Club
nickname =
founded = 1912
ground = Municipal Stadium, Petah Tikva
capacity = 6,768
chairman = flagicon|Israel Amos Luzon
manager = flagicon|Israel Guy Azuri
league = Israeli Premier League
season = 2007-08
position = 10th
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leftarm1=191970|body1=0000FF|rightarm1=0000FF|shorts1=0000FF|socks1=0000FF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=191970|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. ( _he. מכבי פתח תקווה) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. It is part of the Maccabi sports club and currently plays in the Israeli Premier League.

History

The club was founded in 1912 by a group of Jewish students from Petah Tikva, who were studying in the Ottoman city of Constantinople (many of them would later serve in the Ottoman army during World War I), making it the second oldest Jewish football club in Israel after Maccabi Tel Aviv, which was formed in 1906.

In 1926 the club moved to the Maccabi Petah Tikva Ground, where they would play until the 1970s. In 1935 they won their first piece of silverware, beating Hakoah Tel Aviv 1-0 in the cup final. [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/isracuphist.html Israel - List of Cup Finals] RSSSF] In 1939 they reached the final again, but lost 2-1 to Hapoel Tel Aviv. The following year they won the Haaretz tournament.

The club was included in the new Israeli League in 1949, and finished fifth in the inaugural post-independence league table. [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/israhist.html Israel - List of Final Tables] RSSSF] In the next season (1951-52 - there was no 1950-51 edition) they finished as runners-up to champions Maccabi Tel Aviv and also won the State Cup, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0. In 1953-54 (1952-53 was also not played) they also finished second with Eliezer Spiegel finishing as the league's top goalscorer on 16 goals from 22 matches.

After several seasons of mid-table finishes, Maccabi finished bottom of the table in 1962-63 (a season in which the club were deducted 3 points due to suspicions of bribery during a game with Maccabi Jaffa) and were due to be relegated to Liga Alef. However, the Israel Football Association decided to expand the league from 12 to 15 clubs and they were spared demotion. However, the club was relegated at the end of the 1965-66 season after finishing second from bottom.

After two seasons in Liga Alef (one of which - Liga Leumit 1966-68 - lasted for two years) the club returned to the top division in 1969. At the end of the 1970-71 season the club was relegated again after finishing second from bottom, but made an immediate return as Liga Alef champions.

Although Maccabi finished bottom in 1974-75, they were again reprieved from relegation due to league expansion. However, after a repeat performance in 1976-77 they did go down. After making another immediate return to the top flight, the club maintained several mid-table finishes, before ending the 1987-88 season bottom of the table.

In 1990 and 1991 the club won the Liga Artzit Toto Cup. They returned to the top division in 1991 and have remained there since. In 1995 the club won the top division's Toto Cup for the first time, a feat repeated in 2000 and 2004.

In 2001 the club reached the cup final for the first time in 49 years, losing 3-0 to Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 2003-04 they finished third, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. However, the home leg of their third qualifying round tie against SC Heerenveen was cancelled by UEFA due to a baggage handlers strike, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/3679658.stm Uefa make U-turn] BBC Sport, 22 September 2004] and they lost the away leg 5-0.

In 2004-05 the club finished second in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup again. This time they were more successful, beating Macedonian side FK Baskimi 11-0 on aggregate, before knocking out Partizan Belgrade (with a 5-2 away win carrying them through despite a 2-0 loss at home). However, in the group stage they finished bottom having lost all four matches.

Current squad

"As of July 2008"

tadium

The club played at the Maccabi Petah Tikva ground between 1926 and the 1970s. Today they share the 6,768-capacity Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium with city rivals Hapoel. They are planning to move to the new Petah Tikva Stadium in 2009.

Honours

* State Cup
**Winners 1935, 1952
* Toto Cup
**Winners 1995, 2000, 2004
**Second Division Winners 1990, 1991
*Haaretz Tournament
**Winners 1940

References

External links

* [http://www.mpt-mib.com/ Official website]